Mesquite Teen Set To Graduate Honors Late Mom In Tweets

MESQUITE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A Mesquite high school girl's tweet about graduating without her mom has touched Twitter user and is now viral.

On the first day of her freshman year at John Horn High School, Savannah Inthalangsy and her mom decided to take a special photo. In the photo, the two are sitting in the car holding up ice cream cones.

"I love tradition and I love to start new traditions and anything to get ice cream," said Inthalangsy.

They took another picture on her last day of her freshman year and continued the tradition every year. This year, Savannah is graduating. She took her last day of school photo at her mother's grave. Her mother died last December 19.

"She had a brain aneurysm, and she went into a comma on her way to the hospital," said the teenager.

Although Phelana Foster battled ovarian cancer for six years, she had outlived her initial diagnosis. Everyone expected the 45-year-old would live to see her daughter graduate.

"We took my senior pictures during the summer before so she did get to see me in my cap and gown," said Savannah. "She was excited. We were already party planning"

They are still having the Hawaiian-themed party her mother had planned. Savannah plans to honor her mother by completing another dream of hers— graduating from the University of North Texas in Denton.

"She never got her bachelors' degree to teach education but she was able to teach at daycares, and I always said that I wanted to get my bachelors degree and I always said that I loved education, too."

That dream is still years away. On Friday night, Hannah got her cap and gown ready for Saturday— likely to be an emotional day.

Hannah tweeted her first and last day photos with her mom two days ago. Already, the tweet has been shared more than 118,000 times, and liked more than 590,000 times.

The graduation will take place at 9:00 a.m. Saturday at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.